Refrigeration systems, such as residential refrigerators, use electric motor powered hermetic compressors which compress the system refrigerant according to principles well known in the art. Under certain conditions, the compressor motor in a system can enter a fault mode wherein the power lines to the compressor input terminals carry excessively high current. This high current condition may result in a phenomenon commonly referred to as “terminal venting”.
Terminal venting is generally characterized by a separation of the metallic compressor input terminal pins from the surrounding insulating material in which the pins are mounted. This can occur if excessively high current is supplied to the terminals for sufficient time to destroy the glass insulating seal. The problem is exacerbated by the different thermal expansion coefficients of the pins and the insulating material thereby causing destructive tensile stresses in the glass. The end result of such a failure is damage to the hermetic seal of the compressor terminal and, in some situations, the uncontrolled release of refrigerant gas.
Many compressor manufacturers incorporate mechanical safeguards into their compressor designs to reduce the likelihood and/or the effects of terminal venting. Some conventional compressors employ robust insulating materials with high temperature breakdown characteristics. Other compressors include covers which enclose the compressor terminals.
Conventional fuse-based interrupt circuits for similar applications do not adequately prevent terminal venting because such circuits are typically triggered by a prolonged presence of current levels substantially lower than the current levels associated with terminal venting. For example, when the compressor rotor becomes locked, the compressor motor draws high current (commonly referred to as “locked rotor current”) such as 20 amps, for example, but not nearly as high as the current associated with terminal venting, which is typically in excess of 50 amps. Conventional interrupt circuits interrupt power to the compressor to protect the motor coils when the current draw of the compressor motor is in the range of locked rotor currents, and is sustained for a sufficiently long period of time. While the exceptionally high current associated with terminal venting would typically trigger a conventional interrupt circuit the relatively slow response time of such circuits requires a prolonged application of this high current. Thus, damage to the compressor terminals may occur long before a conventional interrupt circuit is triggered.